As MSPs look for new ways to grow, many are facing the same challenge: How do you expand services without adding unnecessary complexity?
ChannelPro spoke with three vendors at Pax8 Beyond 2026 approached that question from different angles.
- One focuses on turning AI conversations into recurring revenue.
- Another helps MSPs manage the risks that come with AI adoption.
- A third simplifies security operations so providers can scale more efficiently.
Here’s what they shared.
Turning AI into a managed service
Many MSPs know customers want help with AI. But they struggle to package those conversations into a repeatable offering.
Lemhi, a new company founded by MSP veterans, aims to change that. Its platform helps providers identify AI opportunities inside customer environments, estimate the potential return on investment and build roadmaps that can be sold as recurring managed services.
Tim Hickle
“The problem set that we keep seeing over and over again is clients are coming to us saying, ‘Hey, we’d like some help with AI,’” said Tim Hickle, head of marketing for Lemhi. “And the MSP says, ‘That sounds great. We’d love to help you with AI. What do you need help with?’ And the client says, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I thought you knew.’”
Rather than requiring lengthy discovery engagements, Lemhi guides customers through industry-specific surveys. This helps generate an AI roadmap based on employee priorities, projected time savings and ROI.
The structured approach makes AI easier to sell throughout an MSP organization, Hickle noted. “This is a color-by-number system that makes it so that anyone who’s client-facing on your team can have these AI conversations, broker these deals, and sell this as a managed service.”
Bringing governance to AI adoption
As customers adopt AI tools, visibility and governance become just as important as deployment. Longwave helps MSPs discover how clients are already using AI, identify risky behavior, and establish policies that steer users toward approved tools.
Pete Skurman
“We help MSPs build their AI governance program,” said Co-founder and CEO Pete Skurman. “We help you to start generating revenue from AI by understanding how your clients are presently using AI.”
The platform begins with an observation period that identifies AI usage across an organization. Then, MSPs can enforce policies and apply data loss prevention controls where needed.
Providers can no longer afford to ignore AI use inside customer organizations. “Whether or not you like it, they’re exposing their company secrets to these models where they don’t have business agreements,” Skurman warned. “If you’re interested in how they’re presently using AI, we’re the tool to use.”
Simplifying security operations
Brian Moody
While AI presents new opportunities, many MSPs are also looking for ways to reduce operational overhead.
WhiteDog Cyber’s managed security platform addresses that with more than 60 technologies into a single service. Rather than requiring MSPs to manage numerous security tools, the company operates the underlying technologies while giving partners a unified interface.
Brian Moody, senior vice president of global sales and channels, said the goal is to reduce technology debt while freeing providers to focus on growing their businesses. “How are you going to grow your business?” Moody said. “We give you back that time because we take that tech that you’re not managing away from you to allow you to do other things.”
That allows MSPs to spend less time maintaining security infrastructure and more time pursuing new customers and expanding higher-value services, Moody added.
Different approaches, one goal
Although Lemhi, Longwave and White Dog Cyber address different challenges, they reflect a common trend across the channel. MSPs are looking for technologies that do more than add another tool to the stack. They want solutions that help them generate recurring revenue, reduce operational complexity and scale their businesses more efficiently.
Images: hamara — stock.adobe.com, Anjali Fluker/ChannelPro, LinkedIn
